Power of Runes

Ash descended the dark stairway. Naturally, he wasn't able to see anything in the heavy darkness surrounding him, but with Omni Thought activated, he could feel every step beneath his feet through subtle mental feedback.

Upon reaching the bottom, he stepped into yet another chamber—an expansive space swallowed in silence.

Before him stood an enormous door, much like the ones he had seen before, but this one was carved with mysterious symbols that seemed to pulse faintly with an aura of forgotten knowledge.

So many damn doors... I don't like this one bit, he muttered inwardly with a sigh of annoyance.

Even so, he didn't waste any more time and used Transcendent Step to pass through the door in an instant, just like he did it before.

And what he found on the other side was... breathtaking.

Now this... this is what you truly call a tomb, he thought, relieved by the sight that unfolded before him.

The vast chamber stretched endlessly in all directions, and within its cavernous expanse lay the colossal skeletal remains of dragons.

Their enormous bones filled the space like monuments to a time long gone. Most of them lay curled up peacefully, their postures calm and resting, as if they had simply fallen asleep and never awakened.

It felt like a museum of death and bones, frozen in time.

Ash narrowed his eyes slightly as a vague memory surfaced from the Novel.

There was a line... yes, something that mentioned this. Dragons, when they sense the end of their lifespan drawing near, come to this sacred place, lie down, and fall into their final slumber. For them, dying in silence, without struggle or battle, is considered an honor… a sign of peace earned after a long, hard life.

He walked slowly through the forest of bones, carefully stepping between the fallen titans.

Anyone else—any adventurer, mercenary, or Tomb Raider—would have tried to rob the place blind.

After all, dragon bones were treasures in themselves, capable of being forged into Legendary and Mythical weapons or nearly indestructible armor.

Just one of these skeletons could set someone up for life.

But Ash... he didn't reach for even a single bone.

He had no reason to defile the remains of creatures he bore no hatred toward. Especially not the ones who had come here willingly, choosing this place as their final resting ground.

They had lived, aged, and embraced the end with dignity. He had no desire to disturb that.

It's better to take the bones of the most ancient dragon, rather than rob the young ones of their rest, Ash thought, and an unusual grin tugged at the corner of his lips.

He passed dozens of dragon skeletons, each one larger and more majestic than the last, as he moved steadily toward the center of the tomb.

He was glad that among the books he had read in the academy, there was knowledge of how to identify the age of a dragon through its bones.

_The bones of young dragons are pure white... untouched by the weight of centuries. But the bones of dragons who've grown truly old—they turn golden over time,

And the deeper the golden color, the more ancient the dragon...

At the center of the hall, Ash stood before the massive, solitary skeleton of the dragon, its sheer size overwhelming even in death.

The bones towered above him, easily as tall as a six-story building, casting a majestic and almost divine aura that lingered, undiminished by time.

Even though it no longer drew breath, the presence it carried felt sacred.

A soft, pure golden glow flowed from the dragon's bones, lighting up the dim tomb like a sacred flame.

It reminded Ash of a golden beacon glowing in the middle of a starless night, strong enough to push away even the deepest darkness.

Is my luck finally beginning to turn around...? he wondered silently, eyes still dim without any light.

Being an anomaly in this world, Ash had long known that fate was not on his side.

As someone who had interfered with the fate of this world, he always feared that the world—or the laws governing it—might retaliate against him.

So far, that retaliation hadn't taken a direct form, but bad luck had clung to him like a second shadow, or so he thought.

He had a feeling why fate couldn't directly harm him, although it was a guess. It might be related to 'that' person who transmigrated him, might be related to some unknown rules.

Or might be related to....Runes.

But, even if fate couldn't touch him directly, it could still reach the people around him.

Wasn't that why he tried to distance himself from Elysia in the first place? To protect her from the backlash? But it all fell apart anyway... and now she lay on her deathbed, and he could do nothing but watch.

He clenched his jaw, suppressing the feelings rising in his chest.

Letting out a breath, Ash shifted his focus back to the skeleton.

This has to be at least the remains of a dragon that lived for a thousand years…

That thought alone made him feel incredibly lucky.

He stepped forward quickly, getting closer to the golden bones, and couldn't help but admire the sheer beauty and sacred weight the skeleton carried.

The curves of the bones, the aged cracks along the golden ribs, even the silent dignity the creature still held—it was breathtaking.

Standing before it, Ash clasped his hands and bowed his head slightly.

Forgive me, O mighty dragon, but I am about to defile your remains…

After offering his quiet prayer, he opened his eyes and reached out to touch the golden bones.

But just before his fingers made contact, he halted, realizing something important.

Wait... even though my spatial ring is very, very big, there's no way it could store something this huge. It's already filled with my other belongings and supplies.

A quiet sigh escaped him.

He couldn't take the skeleton now, not unless he found another storage artifact with far greater capacity.

Well then… stay here for now, he thought, eyes scanning the vast hall. If this place really is the dragons' final resting vault, there must be some kind of large-scale spatial artifact hidden somewhere inside. At least big enough to store a corpse like this, right?

With that decision made, he walked past the enormous skeleton and moved deeper into the massive chamber. The vast hall seemed to be divided into two distinct areas—one side filled entirely with dragon bones, and the other...

It held a lake.

A lake filled not with water, but with blood.

Dragon blood...

Ash stared at the deep, crimson pool with a strange smile creeping across his face.

He had noticed the scent of it when he first approached the dragon skeleton, but he had wanted to offer his respect to the dead before turning his attention to anything else.

Now, seeing it up close, the magnitude of what lay before him hit harder.

If any alchemist or blacksmith had come here, they would have gone completely mad with excitement…

Still, while it was undeniably valuable for crafting, what stirred Ash's interest was something far more personal.

There were so many novels back on Earth that talked about how dragon blood could increase a person's stats… and sometimes even grant a dragon bloodline if one was lucky enough. Maybe there's a similar possibility in this world too...?

He had no confirmation of such a thing. So far, he hadn't come across any record or research that supported the idea.

If anyone had ever tried something like soaking in Dragon blood, they either didn't live to tell the tale or the truth was buried in silence.

In such a situation, there was only one clear path.

Experimentation.

A wide, unnerving grin stretched across his face, the kind that spoke of madness and curiosity intertwining.

A wide, almost eerie grin stretched across his face. With a thought, his clothes shimmered and began to fade, condensing and reshaping into a sleek necklace that wrapped neatly around his neck, leaving his body bare.

It was one of the hidden functions of the strange armor he had acquired.

Ash's eyes glinted with unshaken resolve.

Even if something goes wrong, the worst that can happen is death. And honestly, the fear of death…....has long since left me.

Besides, the thrill of experimenting with the unknown… there's nothing quite like it.

Without a moment of hesitation, Ash jumped into the pool of dragon blood, embracing the unknown with open arms.

As he felt the cold blood brushing against his skin, a strange sensation ran through his body, like stepping barefoot into untouched snow.

The surface of the blood was icy, unnerving in its stillness, but as he swam deeper, something unexpected began to happen.

The deeper he went, the warmer the blood became.

The cold that had wrapped around him like ice slowly faded away, replaced by a soft warmth rising from below, almost like heat coming from something hidden deep down.

Looks like something is down there..., Ash thought as he continued to sink deeper, allowing his body to drift lower into the unknown.

***